The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-01-27
GRAMMAR AND COMPOSITION.

education treat grammar and compo-
sition as subjects quite independent OF
each other, but the two are so insepa.
rably linked, if not perfectly identi-
fed, in my thoughqthat have chosen
to speak of them together.
The very definition of English gram
mar-that it teaches how to speak and
write the English language correctly
clearly embraces the art OF composition
under its second function. True it is
that composition signifies more than
mere grammatical accuracy-that il
comprehends beauty of expression and
logical arrangement rs well-but these
latter are so greatly overshadowed by
the paramount Importance of the first,
that to separate the two subjects on
this ground must occasion host of dis
advantages which no resulting benefits
can equalize.
] have said that these two subjects
have been separated in teaching" but
this, il is observed, is something very
different from saying that they have
been taught. wish ] could say this,
ALSO with as much truth. but my OBJ
scrvation has been that almost the only
teaching grammar receives is miS-teach-
ing, and the reasons for this are quite
simple, and will suggest themselves al
most Immediately to those who have
ever tried to teach it at all. The per-
nicious system of topical teaching which
is most conviently followed in almost
every other subject here proves both
inapplicable and inpracticable, yet
such has been the ruinous influence of
this false method that. in manner, it
has insinuatcd itself rs well as il could
into the subject Of grammar, too.
1t was a triumph of ingenuity when
parsing, analyzing and "diagramming'
were respectively invented Each in
it's turn was hailed as godsend and
speedily utilized to the exclusion of all
other grammatical exercises
remember with profound regret
the incessant practice | had in parsing,
while pupil, and the feeling of won
der that would sometimes creep over
me of what tiny bit there must be to
learn in this world that we must day in
and day out parse "the," that"
Tom, ''cat," until the very buzzing
of flies was welcome relief to the
monotony.
When in later life / exchanged the
studies of the pupil for those of the in
structor. l found another system al
ready mapped out, and everybody jog
ging along in a circular rut. Diagram
ming and Analysing had now become
the ruling passion, and any departure
from them was looked upon as bold
presumption, and rank hersey Occa-
sionally some of my pupils, whom no
assurance that the rut ran somewhere
would content Extraordinarily clam
ored for broader field, but such clam
ors, by order of the higher powers,
were unceremoniously stifled
Thus the delusion that this practice
was the highway TO n mastery of the
English language grew upon them.
TO be able to analyze and diagram"
any sentence was the goal, which. once
attained. meant Literary distinction. or
something rs near like il rs they could
imagine Scarcely moment could be
in speech, and in most cases written
exercises were graded on the penman-
ship and the knowledge of facts alone.
That which they thought so worthy
of their own efforts, by natural pro-
cess became their standard for Judging
others. should not wonder that had
Shakespeare, Milton, Macaulay. or any
other famous author been placed before
them and set to Analysing complex
sentence, his numerous departures from
the stereotyped order would have
brought upon him glances of supercili-
Gus scorn or wondering pity.
But. it is urged. the object in all this
is to be discipline. Very well, grant
for the sake of argument that the
disciplinary virtue of these methods
are all that their champions claim for
them; is there not in all the sublime
range of human knowledge some one
thing, or some scores of things but
combine this boosted discipline with
the importation of useful information
If we can knock two apples with one
stone, why not do so? Must food be
unpalatablc and indigestible
TO train our stomachs to digest.
Certainly not; yet how thoughtlessly
we disregard the reasoning of analogy.
and crowd upon the mind-the in
stomach-a mass of noXious
fool that would have worried the mind
of Bacon himself TO assimilate-if such
= thing be possible at all.
Grammar is generally acknowledged
to be the hardest subject to systematize
satisfactorily and to teach with benef-
cial results. IL is so difficult to steer
clear of the Scylla of mechanical rou-
tine on the one hand and the Charybdis